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The Danish Prime Minister, Social Democrat Mette Frederiksen, had warned him a couple of days ago: "We need football to be played. It will be without spectators or beers, but it is important for many people." Today, his government has confirmed it, making the Danish Super League, together with the German Bundesliga, the first EU domestic championship to return to end the season interrupted by the coronavirus. The Federation is now free to set the remaining calendar. Of course, behind closed doors.

With the pandemic apparently under control, a government note has also reported that, as of Monday, all stores that have not yet done so, including shopping centers, will also reopen, as well as organized outdoor sports for all ages. A week later, on Monday the 18th, you will be able to go to cafes, bars, restaurants, libraries, religious temples and zoos, while the schools will reopen their doors to students who have not yet returned. On April 15, children up to 12 years old had returned to class .

They were foreseeable measures. Indeed, the evolution of the pandemic in Denmark presents a clearly downward curve. The total of deceased amounts to 514 (87 per million inhabitants), with eight in the last 24 hours, while the number of admitted has dropped to 199 people, the lowest figure since last March 20.

Frederiksen's decision, called Phase 2 and agreed upon after a long meeting with the other parties, is based on a report by the State Institute of Serology (SSI) that considers that an expansion of de-escalation with the aforementioned characteristics will continue to maintain the rate of It spread below 1.0, which means that each infected Dane will infect less than one person on average and the epidemic will gradually disappear.

Study on contagion in soccer

Regarding football, an investigation by the University of Aarhus estimates that the danger of contagion between players during the course of matches is almost non-existent. If a footballer were infected, the rest of the players would only be close to him an average of 88 seconds per game. According to the Danish Health Directorate, the risk of real contagion only exists if you are less than two meters from an infected person for at least 15 minutes .

However, one of the study's authors, Thomas Bull Andersen, however, introduces certain important nuances. Due to the short time to publish the document, only the movement patterns of the players have been observed during 14 matches. That is, factors such as the danger of contagion if the ball is touched with the hands in a throw-in have not been considered.

The calculations, in addition, only take into account the assumption that a single footballer is infected. In case there are more, the average contact time should be multiplied. With two infected it goes up to almost three minutes; with three, four minutes and 24 seconds; and so on. In addition, the risk of contagion varies according to the position on the lawn . Midfielders, for example, would be more exposed than defenders and goalkeepers.

The SSI report also warns against an excess of optimism in the country, recalling that for the situation to continue improving it is key to maintain the hygiene and social distancing standards observed in recent weeks. Furthermore, he stresses that there is "a significant risk" of a second wave of the virus, given the relatively low number of Danes infected so far. Precisely for this reason, the Government today launched a random test campaign to find out more precisely about the extent of Covid-19 in Denmark.

In Norway, the Prime Minister, the conservative Erna Solberg, has also announced a relaxation of the restrictions, although more cautious than the Danish despite the fact that her country presents even better statistics than its southern neighbors: 216 deaths (40 per million inhabitants). ) and a smaller number of infected and hospitalized.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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